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The Chemical Brothers: Born in the Echoes review – sturdy, well made and creatively bereft | Musique Non Stop

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Thursday, July 23, 2015

The Chemical Brothers: Born in the Echoes review – sturdy, well made and creatively bereft

(EMI)

Related: The Chemical Brothers: ‘We’ve been together longer than a lot of marriages’

The dance duo extend the decade-long dilution of their canon with their new record, which is as technically accomplished as ever, but creatively exhausted. Perhaps trying to avoid the crass build-drop-build of EDM and trap, tracks such as Under Neon Lights (featuring a wasted St Vincent) vacillate weakly in the middle ground. Other producers, such as Barnt and Jon Hopkins, are ripped off, and old tricks are trotted out, including a Q-Tip guest spot and another almost-remake of Tomorrow Never Knows (though without Noel Gallagher’s beefy songwriting). Lyrics were never the Chems’ strong suit, but the goofy mantras of old have atrophied into pure inanity. Only EML Ritual and Beck collaboration Wide Open get close to past glories, even if the former once again trades on them, being essentially a defanged take on career high Electronic Battle Weapon 7. It’s all very sturdy and well made, much like the Mondeos it will mostly be played in.

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by Ben Beaumont-Thomas via Electronic music | The Guardian

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